Mashed Potatoes

Ok ok I know this is very easy and most of you can make mashed potatoes in your sleep, but I do know plenty of dudes who probably don’t have a clue how to make it. Like I have said, the purpose of this blog is to show people how easy it is to cook. In order to do that I am going to try and not skip much detail and assume that someone would know how to do something. So here goes!

First, peal and halve your potatoes. It’s easier to peel them before cooking otherwise you need to wait for them to cool first. Cutting them into smaller chunks allows them to cook faster.

Cooking time will vary but I guess about 20 minutes on a full boil should do. You need to check them though. Stick a small knife into one, if it goes in and comes out without much resistance they are cooked.

Strain the potatoes by putting a colander in your sink and chucking them in. Get most of the water out and pop them into a mixing bowl.

Add some milk or cream, a knob of butter, some salt and I like to add some baking powder, it makes the mash more fluffy. The more milk/cream you add the creamier it will become. Play around with it until you have the consistency you want.

Then just take out the potato masher and mash the crap out of them. Make sure you mix the salt and stuff through properly. Most importantly, taste it! It’s likely that it could taste bland, that means you skimped on the salt. Add some more, mix through and taste

That’s it, enjoy!

*EDIT*  Since writing this post I have picked up some more tricks from chef Neill Anthony.  My way is the quick way, but you do lose a lot of flavour.  If you want the most flavourful mashed potatoes you can get, its better to bake the potatoes instead of boiling.  Apparently with boiling you lose a lot of flavour in the water.  I haven’t tried it yet as I am too lazy, but it does make sense and the man does know what he is talking about, so I thought I’d just mention it here.